The Landscape That Lived in My Imagination

From the Yellow Mountain, I took a 16-hour train to Guilin, heading straight toward one of the places I’d dreamed of seeing for years. I stayed in Xingping Village, surrounded by those magical limestone peaks I had admired in photos since childhood. This was the part of China I had been looking forward to the most.

One morning, I stood by the Li River, holding a 20 yuan banknote, the one that shows this very landscape, and took a picture of it with the real view in the background. That moment gave me chills. I had made it here, to a scene I had only ever seen printed on paper or through someone else’s lens.

I hiked up one of the peaks near Xingping to catch both sunset and sunrise. The sunset bathed the mountains in golden light.. calm and beautiful. The sunrise was quieter, less bright, but peaceful in its own way.

I did think about photographing the traditional fishermen with their birds, but once I saw how commercial the whole setup had become, I decided not to invest too much time in it. They don’t really fish like that anymore, it’s mostly for tourists now. Even without that sunrise fishermen photo, I felt fulfilled. The landscape itself was more than enough. Just being there, hiking, sitting quietly with those views, was a dream come true.